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| Criterion |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Innovation Lean Startup |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When demand only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. | For uncertain business assumptions, the method forces the idea into contact with real market reactions early. It separates wishful picture, assumption, and observable behavior, so that learning becomes faster than planning. This translates uncertainty into measurable insight. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-5 Tage | Wochen bis Monate je Lernzyklus | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | Nutzertraffic | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | Hypothesis list, MVPs, Learning reports, Pivot or persevere decision | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | LeanStartupValidationMVP | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.
